Baseball wins Bo's heart

Baseball wins Bo's heart
*Did Bo leave millions on the table? Page 6B
*Bo hits five homers in batting practice. Page 6B
*Tampa Bay. The losing continues. Page 6B
By Kevin Scarbinsky
News sports writer
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I've had my share of football I'm
not trying to brag, but I've won my
trophy' �Bo Jackson
____________________________________________________________________________________________
He said all along it wouldn't be a matter of money. He said all along it would he "what Bo wants to do."
What Bo Jackson wants to do is play baseball.
Auburn's 23-year-old Heisman Trophy winner made it public Saturday at a press conference at the Birmingham Hilton. He has signed a professional baseball contract with the world champion Kansas City Royals.
"It's just what Bo wants to do for the rest of his life." Jackson said.
Jackson chose baseball and the Royals over football and the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the USFL's Birmingham Stallions. Stallions President Jerry Sklar said Friday the team was not able to offer enough money to sign Jackson. The Bucs, on the other hand, reportedly had offered him a five-year, $7 million deal which would have made him the highest-paid rookie in NFL history. Instead, Jackson becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner since Army's Pete Dawkins in 1958 not to play professional football.
"I played football and I've been blessed to come away with only a minor shoulder injury." Jackson said. "I've never had my knees cut on. I plan never to go into the hospital as far as my knees are concerned. Right now, that's my bread and butter. I don't plan to go under anybody's scalpel.
"I've had my share of football. I'm not trying to brag, but I've won my trophy."
Jackson was accompanied at the press conference by two of his attorneys, Richard Woods and Tommy Zieman, and by Royals co-owner Avron Fogelman.
"He's going to be given every opportunity to make our club." Fogelman said. "There's been no discussion about assignment (to a minor league team)."
The Royals plan to have Jackson � who won't be on the 24-man roster to start � work out with the major league club "until he's in competitive playing shape," General Manager John Schuerholz said, then assign him to a minor league team. The most likely possibilities are Class Double-A Memphis of the Southern League or Class Triple-A Omaha of the American Association.
Jackson flew to Kansas City following the press conference and took batting practice in a Royals uniform before the team took on the California Angels.
"We want Bo to be in the major leagues as soon as possible." Fogelman said. "That's our objective. We want to give Bo the chance to be in our starting outfield as soon as possible."
Jackson said he's willing to spend more than a year in the minors if necessary
Jackson signed with the Royals on Friday at about 1 p.m. in Fogelman's office in Memphis. Woods, one of Jackson's attorneys, said Saturday that neither side of the negotiations would comment on the terms of the contract. Jackson said reports that he signed a five-year, $5 million deal with the Royals were "exaggerated, greatly exaggerated.' Fogelman called such reports - the most erroneous information in the history of sport"
*See Jackson. Page 6B
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Summer game is the right choice for Bo
Clyde Bolton
Sports columnist
On the first day of summer, Bo Jackson announced that he has chosen the summer game.
Jackson wore a blue Kansas City Royals cap and a gray business suit as he stood behind a cluster of microphones on a podium at the Hilton and said he will hit baseballs instead of cornerbacks for a living.
Newspaper and TV folk joined Jackson's kin. Royals officials, lawyers, and just plain fans who walked in off the street to hear Auburn's Heisman Trophy winner end the suspense.
I was impressed by Jackson as he fielded questions, sprinkled witticisms into the Q-and-A session and fired off a barb or two at the press.
He was smooth, in command of the situation Saturday. I recalled the Auburn freshman with the speech impediment that caused him to look away from the person he was talking to � leading some who didn't know to call him just another dumb jock. If he hasn't conquered the impediment, he at least has it under control, and nobody's Rotary Club would be bored if he were the speaker.
He is no dumb jock. College athletics catches a lot of flak, most of it deserved, but the Bo Jackson I watched Saturday is a testimony of what four years in school, out in the world, can do for a man. Bless him.
Jackson, as near as I can determine, made a decision characterized by maturity. His lawyer, Richard Woods, says he chose baseball over football because he simply would rather play that game for a living. "He said all along it would be a decision of the heart, and it was. As far as the contract offer, he would have been many times better off with football," Woods said.
In an age in which every move athletes make seems to be dictated by money, it is refreshing to hear those words.
I thought all along Jackson would choose football. Several days ago I asked Bob Bailey, the manager of the Barons, who once had the choice of signing a baseball contract or a football grant-in-aid, what advice he would give Jackson.
I don't know how good Bo Jackson is at playing baseball." Bailey answered. "I know how good he is at football That's the only answer I can give you."
*See Bolton Page 6B
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Jackson, now a Kansas City Royal, tells a Birmingham press conference he's ready to leave football behind
� Birmingham
Jackson and his mother Florence Bond at press conference at the Birmingham Hilton
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Jackson
* From Page 18
"Bo's salary," Fogelman said, "is no more than any other first-round draft choice."
The Royals selected Jackson on the fourth round of the June baseball draft. Fogelman said Jackson would have been a first-round choice if pro football had not been one of his options.
Jackson's contract reportedly also includes an escape clause, which would allow him to buy out of the deal for the cost of his signing bonus, and a stipulation that he be called up to the Royals from the minors on Sept. 1 of this year, when major league clubs increase their rosters from 24 to 40 players.
The Buccaneers retain their NFL rights to Jackson until next year's draft.
Jackson wavered at first Saturday when asked if he would ever play football again, saying, "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." Later he said his football days are over.
"Once I signed my name on that dotted line," he said, "I knew I would never play the other sport again competitively."
Zieman, one of Jackson's attorneys, said the bottom line in the decision was baseball vs. football.
"I think that it's the sport," Zieman said. "He loves the sport. He's played it since he was a kid. It happened that the team that drafted him was the world champion. That complemented his love of the sport. It's not a negative decision (against Tampa Bay). It's a positive decision."
Jackson stressed how impressed he was with the Royals organization after visiting the club three weeks ago.
"I visited some baseball teams," he said. (Jackson visted the Royals, the Toronto Blue Jays and the California Angels, in addition to the NFL's Bucs and the USFL's Stallions.) "Out of everybody I visited the Royals treated me like a person instead of putting me on a pedestal. There was no hoopla. They were down-to-earth people.... Kansas City has excellent facilities there. It was like visiting baseball heaven."
Woods, who negotiated with the Royals, said Jackson chose Kansas City as the baseball team he wanted to play for and the Royals were told before the June 2 draft.
Fogelman praised the "chemistry" between the Royals and Jackson and his representatives.
"Bo never used football as leverage," Fogelman said. "Bo never brought football up to us. The monetary part did not take much time. It was not anything debatable. We were not going to pay any more than first-round draft choices are paid."
Fogelman said the Royals would not have gotten into a bidding war to sign Jackson.
A positive chemistry was not present between Jackson's representatives and the Bucs, sources have said. Zieman spent most of his time negotiating with the Bucs, including owner Hugh Culverhouse, assistant Phil Kreuger and controller Ward Holland.
"I'm an adversary," Zieman said. "I'm a lawyer. That's what lawyers are. In that context, I'd say the negotiations went as expected."
Zieman said he called Kreuger on Saturday morning to tell him about Jackson's decision. "The offer from Tampa Bay was very generous," Zieman said. "The Bucs didn't blow it."
Culverhouse sent a congratulatory telegram to Jackson on Saturday.
Zieman called the last three months "a labor of love" and said he's "going back to practice law." Jackson said he's ready to play some ball.
"This happened at the perfect time,' he said. "As you know, it's the first day of summer. It's time for baseball, and I'm ready to go."
The day arrives - Bo's a pro
After announcing decision in Birmingham, Jackson jets to KC; meanwhile, Tampa Bay comes up a loser
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Kansas City
Did Bo leave millions on the table?
By Doug Tucker
AP sports writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. � Bo Jackson "left millions of dollars on the table" by rejecting football and signing with the Kansas City Royals, team officials and his agent said Saturday.
Shortly after signing the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn Saturday, the Royals vehemently denied rumors of a $5 million, five-year deal.
"It's not any different from any contract that a first-round draft choice would get" General Manager John Schuerholz said.
A highly regarded first-round draft choice, said one baseball executive, might expect about $250,000 in guaranteed money. Jackson was reportedly guaranteed more than $7 million from Tampa Bay, which made him the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft in April.
If he becomes a baseball superstar Jackson would figure to have a longer career and eventually eclipse whatever he would have earned in football.
"Life is a gamble. You've got to take gambles in life,"
check and you know your wife is at home waiting for you to bring that paycheck home so she can pay bills. But that check is just burning your hand to get over there to the slot machines. Hey, what if I go over there and hit it big? I could get 20 times this paycheck. But I know if I lose my paycheck, my wife's going to kill me"
"He could have been a mega-millionaire," said Richard Woods of Mobile, one of Jackson's agents. "He could have had security for life. But he went with his heart. He did what he wanted to do and turned his back on millions and millions of dollars. Its hard to believe. I know. You have to know Bo Jackson to understand how something like this could happen"
Jackson insisted in news conferences in Birmingham on Saturday and in Kansas City Saturday night that his football career is behind him. Asked in Kansas City if his Royals contract includes a buyout provision to return to football if baseball doesn't work out, he replied:
"Baseball will work out. I sincerely believe that if I devote myself to any one sport, I will be in there in the thick of things. Time will tell."
The Royals would say only that the contract contains no guarantee of when the power-hitting outfielder will be promoted to the big leagues. Shuerholz angrily denied reports of a $5 million, five year offer.
"Whoever the jerk is who dreamed up that figure and got it in circulation ought to have his press card yanked out of his hands and burned in public," Schuerholz said. "It's absolutely not true. It's not even one-fifth right."
A member of Jackson's party nodded yes when asked if the contract was for less than $1 million.
Jackson was taken by Tampa Bay as the No. 1 choice in the NFL draft. Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse vowed to make him the highest paid rookie in NFL history and reportedly made a five-year offer in excess of $7 million.
"I'm so happy right now, I wouldn't care if they sent me to the Pee Wee League," Jackson said.
Woods said he would prefer to give details of the contract.
"But I cant," he said. "It's the Royals' policy not to talk about contracts. I will say that it is not a five-year contract. The details will come out later anyway once it's filed with the Major League Players' Association. Then people will know what kind of character Bo Jackson has."
Schuerholz said Jackson would be brought to the Royals after Sept 1 when major league teams are allowed to expand their 24-man rosters to 40.
"That's barring anything unforeseen happening, like Armageddon," Shuerholz said with a smile.

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Baseball wins Bo's heart
*Did Bo leave millions on the table? Page 6B
*Bo hits five homers in batting practice. Page 6B
*Tampa Bay. The losing continues. Page 6B
By Kevin Scarbinsky
News sports writer
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I've had my share of football I'm
not trying to brag, but I've won my
trophy' �Bo Jackson
____________________________________________________________________________________________
He said all along it wouldn't be a matter of money. He said all along it would he "what Bo wants to do."
What Bo Jackson wants to do is play baseball.
Auburn's 23-year-old Heisman Trophy winner made it public Saturday at a press conference at the Birmingham Hilton. He has signed a professional baseball contract with the world champion Kansas City Royals.
"It's just what Bo wants to do for the rest of his life." Jackson said.
Jackson chose baseball and the Royals over football and the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the USFL's Birmingham Stallions. Stallions President Jerry Sklar said Friday the team was not able to offer enough money to sign Jackson. The Bucs, on the other hand, reportedly had offered him a five-year, $7 million deal which would have made him the highest-paid rookie in NFL history. Instead, Jackson becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner since Army's Pete Dawkins in 1958 not to play professional football.
"I played football and I've been blessed to come away with only a minor shoulder injury." Jackson said. "I've never had my knees cut on. I plan never to go into the hospital as far as my knees are concerned. Right now, that's my bread and butter. I don't plan to go under anybody's scalpel.
"I've had my share of football. I'm not trying to brag, but I've won my trophy."
Jackson was accompanied at the press conference by two of his attorneys, Richard Woods and Tommy Zieman, and by Royals co-owner Avron Fogelman.
"He's going to be given every opportunity to make our club." Fogelman said. "There's been no discussion about assignment (to a minor league team)."
The Royals plan to have Jackson � who won't be on the 24-man roster to start � work out with the major league club "until he's in competitive playing shape," General Manager John Schuerholz said, then assign him to a minor league team. The most likely possibilities are Class Double-A Memphis of the Southern League or Class Triple-A Omaha of the American Association.
Jackson flew to Kansas City following the press conference and took batting practice in a Royals uniform before the team took on the California Angels.
"We want Bo to be in the major leagues as soon as possible." Fogelman said. "That's our objective. We want to give Bo the chance to be in our starting outfield as soon as possible."
Jackson said he's willing to spend more than a year in the minors if necessary
Jackson signed with the Royals on Friday at about 1 p.m. in Fogelman's office in Memphis. Woods, one of Jackson's attorneys, said Saturday that neither side of the negotiations would comment on the terms of the contract. Jackson said reports that he signed a five-year, $5 million deal with the Royals were "exaggerated, greatly exaggerated.' Fogelman called such reports - the most erroneous information in the history of sport"
*See Jackson. Page 6B
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Summer game is the right choice for Bo
Clyde Bolton
Sports columnist
On the first day of summer, Bo Jackson announced that he has chosen the summer game.
Jackson wore a blue Kansas City Royals cap and a gray business suit as he stood behind a cluster of microphones on a podium at the Hilton and said he will hit baseballs instead of cornerbacks for a living.
Newspaper and TV folk joined Jackson's kin. Royals officials, lawyers, and just plain fans who walked in off the street to hear Auburn's Heisman Trophy winner end the suspense.
I was impressed by Jackson as he fielded questions, sprinkled witticisms into the Q-and-A session and fired off a barb or two at the press.
He was smooth, in command of the situation Saturday. I recalled the Auburn freshman with the speech impediment that caused him to look away from the person he was talking to � leading some who didn't know to call him just another dumb jock. If he hasn't conquered the impediment, he at least has it under control, and nobody's Rotary Club would be bored if he were the speaker.
He is no dumb jock. College athletics catches a lot of flak, most of it deserved, but the Bo Jackson I watched Saturday is a testimony of what four years in school, out in the world, can do for a man. Bless him.
Jackson, as near as I can determine, made a decision characterized by maturity. His lawyer, Richard Woods, says he chose baseball over football because he simply would rather play that game for a living. "He said all along it would be a decision of the heart, and it was. As far as the contract offer, he would have been many times better off with football," Woods said.
In an age in which every move athletes make seems to be dictated by money, it is refreshing to hear those words.
I thought all along Jackson would choose football. Several days ago I asked Bob Bailey, the manager of the Barons, who once had the choice of signing a baseball contract or a football grant-in-aid, what advice he would give Jackson.
I don't know how good Bo Jackson is at playing baseball." Bailey answered. "I know how good he is at football That's the only answer I can give you."
*See Bolton Page 6B
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Jackson, now a Kansas City Royal, tells a Birmingham press conference he's ready to leave football behind
� Birmingham
Jackson and his mother Florence Bond at press conference at the Birmingham Hilton
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Jackson
* From Page 18
"Bo's salary," Fogelman said, "is no more than any other first-round draft choice."
The Royals selected Jackson on the fourth round of the June baseball draft. Fogelman said Jackson would have been a first-round choice if pro football had not been one of his options.
Jackson's contract reportedly also includes an escape clause, which would allow him to buy out of the deal for the cost of his signing bonus, and a stipulation that he be called up to the Royals from the minors on Sept. 1 of this year, when major league clubs increase their rosters from 24 to 40 players.
The Buccaneers retain their NFL rights to Jackson until next year's draft.
Jackson wavered at first Saturday when asked if he would ever play football again, saying, "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." Later he said his football days are over.
"Once I signed my name on that dotted line," he said, "I knew I would never play the other sport again competitively."
Zieman, one of Jackson's attorneys, said the bottom line in the decision was baseball vs. football.
"I think that it's the sport," Zieman said. "He loves the sport. He's played it since he was a kid. It happened that the team that drafted him was the world champion. That complemented his love of the sport. It's not a negative decision (against Tampa Bay). It's a positive decision."
Jackson stressed how impressed he was with the Royals organization after visiting the club three weeks ago.
"I visited some baseball teams," he said. (Jackson visted the Royals, the Toronto Blue Jays and the California Angels, in addition to the NFL's Bucs and the USFL's Stallions.) "Out of everybody I visited the Royals treated me like a person instead of putting me on a pedestal. There was no hoopla. They were down-to-earth people.... Kansas City has excellent facilities there. It was like visiting baseball heaven."
Woods, who negotiated with the Royals, said Jackson chose Kansas City as the baseball team he wanted to play for and the Royals were told before the June 2 draft.
Fogelman praised the "chemistry" between the Royals and Jackson and his representatives.
"Bo never used football as leverage," Fogelman said. "Bo never brought football up to us. The monetary part did not take much time. It was not anything debatable. We were not going to pay any more than first-round draft choices are paid."
Fogelman said the Royals would not have gotten into a bidding war to sign Jackson.
A positive chemistry was not present between Jackson's representatives and the Bucs, sources have said. Zieman spent most of his time negotiating with the Bucs, including owner Hugh Culverhouse, assistant Phil Kreuger and controller Ward Holland.
"I'm an adversary," Zieman said. "I'm a lawyer. That's what lawyers are. In that context, I'd say the negotiations went as expected."
Zieman said he called Kreuger on Saturday morning to tell him about Jackson's decision. "The offer from Tampa Bay was very generous," Zieman said. "The Bucs didn't blow it."
Culverhouse sent a congratulatory telegram to Jackson on Saturday.
Zieman called the last three months "a labor of love" and said he's "going back to practice law." Jackson said he's ready to play some ball.
"This happened at the perfect time,' he said. "As you know, it's the first day of summer. It's time for baseball, and I'm ready to go."
The day arrives - Bo's a pro
After announcing decision in Birmingham, Jackson jets to KC; meanwhile, Tampa Bay comes up a loser
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Kansas City
Did Bo leave millions on the table?
By Doug Tucker
AP sports writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. � Bo Jackson "left millions of dollars on the table" by rejecting football and signing with the Kansas City Royals, team officials and his agent said Saturday.
Shortly after signing the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn Saturday, the Royals vehemently denied rumors of a $5 million, five-year deal.
"It's not any different from any contract that a first-round draft choice would get" General Manager John Schuerholz said.
A highly regarded first-round draft choice, said one baseball executive, might expect about $250,000 in guaranteed money. Jackson was reportedly guaranteed more than $7 million from Tampa Bay, which made him the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft in April.
If he becomes a baseball superstar Jackson would figure to have a longer career and eventually eclipse whatever he would have earned in football.
"Life is a gamble. You've got to take gambles in life,"
check and you know your wife is at home waiting for you to bring that paycheck home so she can pay bills. But that check is just burning your hand to get over there to the slot machines. Hey, what if I go over there and hit it big? I could get 20 times this paycheck. But I know if I lose my paycheck, my wife's going to kill me"
"He could have been a mega-millionaire," said Richard Woods of Mobile, one of Jackson's agents. "He could have had security for life. But he went with his heart. He did what he wanted to do and turned his back on millions and millions of dollars. Its hard to believe. I know. You have to know Bo Jackson to understand how something like this could happen"
Jackson insisted in news conferences in Birmingham on Saturday and in Kansas City Saturday night that his football career is behind him. Asked in Kansas City if his Royals contract includes a buyout provision to return to football if baseball doesn't work out, he replied:
"Baseball will work out. I sincerely believe that if I devote myself to any one sport, I will be in there in the thick of things. Time will tell."
The Royals would say only that the contract contains no guarantee of when the power-hitting outfielder will be promoted to the big leagues. Shuerholz angrily denied reports of a $5 million, five year offer.
"Whoever the jerk is who dreamed up that figure and got it in circulation ought to have his press card yanked out of his hands and burned in public," Schuerholz said. "It's absolutely not true. It's not even one-fifth right."
A member of Jackson's party nodded yes when asked if the contract was for less than $1 million.
Jackson was taken by Tampa Bay as the No. 1 choice in the NFL draft. Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse vowed to make him the highest paid rookie in NFL history and reportedly made a five-year offer in excess of $7 million.
"I'm so happy right now, I wouldn't care if they sent me to the Pee Wee League," Jackson said.
Woods said he would prefer to give details of the contract.
"But I cant," he said. "It's the Royals' policy not to talk about contracts. I will say that it is not a five-year contract. The details will come out later anyway once it's filed with the Major League Players' Association. Then people will know what kind of character Bo Jackson has."
Schuerholz said Jackson would be brought to the Royals after Sept 1 when major league teams are allowed to expand their 24-man rosters to 40.
"That's barring anything unforeseen happening, like Armageddon," Shuerholz said with a smile.